Monday, October 09, 2006

The spice of life? I think so.

Not to harp away on this, but who the hell cares if tulips only bloom for six or seven years? I just noticed a comment to that effect on some other blog (while narcissistically checking on my referrals) and wondered what the problem was. I guess some people sorely need to see the same flower bloom year after year for decades. Either that, or they really like to squeeze a nickel. Anyway, no way do tulips last that long, except the species and maybe the Darwin hybrids. Two or three years would be more like it—if that long.

My point is this. There are many things in life we can’t change, or can’t afford to change as often as we’d like. I can’t refinish the hardwood floors in the hallway this year, as much as I’d like to, and should. Nor can I change the paint jobs in all the upstairs rooms, though they could use it. For that matter, I'd really like at least four or five new cashmere tops for work. I don’t think it’s going to happen.

But for far less than the price of all those things, the one thing I can do is put a new set of tulips in the front yard this spring. (I’m sure our neighbors would rather we cleaned the gutters.)

Some people, like my mother, and this person (http://perennialpassion.blogspot.com/2006/05/big-fat-tulip-leaves.html) have unrealistic expectations of tulips. A lot of people who would spend a certain amount for a flat of impatiens or petunias would balk at spending that same amount to replace their tulips every year. Some bulbs do come back reliably every year, and tulips seem to be lumped in with them--unfairly, I'd say.

I agree - accepting that tulips will probably be annuals is rather freeing. Now I can plant them in full shade and enjoy the effect in the spring, without worrying about their survival beyond the first bloom.It has also helped me make smarter bulb choices. I spend more on things that will come back and very carefully choose tulips as my "accents."

Ok, here's something these bulb people WON'T tell you-I've been spreading bulb fertilizer over the greened foliage of my bulbs, and manure over the area when they're dormant....and I've had the "temporary" bulbs naturalize and fluorish for over 5 years! So there!

If you can stand anymore tulip comments... My neighbor saw me planting mine this weekend and warned me that the squirrels would eat them. He said that they had eaten his. He knew this because after a couple of years, they stopped flowering, and, when he dug them up to investigate, the bulbs were shrunken to nearly nothing. I guess he thought the squirrels ate all of the bulb but that little bit and then buried the leftovers.

About Me

Elizabeth Licata is an avid gardener, editor of Buffalo Spree magazine, freelance writer, sometime art curator, and a member of the Garden Walk Buffalo committee. She is one of the four bloggers of Garden Rant. Licata gardens in Buffalo, which can vary from 5-6a (in sheltered positions).